Thursday March 1 5:33 AM ET

Taliban Minister Confirms Statue Destruction

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement on Thursday confirmed it had begun smashing statues in several provinces to implement an order from its supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

Taliban's Information and Culture Minister Mullah Qudratullah told reporters that the destruction of statues had been started in the provinces of Kabul, Bamiyan, Herat, Kandahar, Nangarhar and Ghazni. ``All statues will be destroyed,'' he said.

Bamiyan is home to Afghanistan's best-known archeological site, the two towering Buddhas carved into a cliff face.

-- Swissrose (cellier3@mindspring.com), March 01, 2001